Australian Sky & Telescope — November-December 2017

52 AUSTRALIAN SKY & TELESCOPE November | December 2017

CELESTIAL CALENDAR by Alan MacRobert

SpottingUranus&Neptune

A

bright planet usually attracts

attention in the late night long

before it comes to opposition.

But you have to be dedicated to net dim

Uranus and Neptune before they become

conveniently placed in the evening sky.

Which, for the next decade or so, will

mean spring and early summer.

Neptune, magnitude 7.8 in Aquarius,

was at opposition on September 5.

Uranus, in Pisces, came to opposition on

October 19. At magnitude 5.7, Uranus

is detectable with the naked eye if you

have a good dark sky. Both planets are in

the ‘Great Water’ region, over which the

Great Square of Pegasus reigns.

The edge of the Great Square just

made it into the top of our wide-field

chart on the facing page, which shows

stars to 7th magnitude. That’s more

than enough for finding brighter Uranus.

Use the zoomed-in view of Uranus’s

immediate area to pinpoint where it will

be on its path for your date.

Fainter Neptune will require using

the Neptune enlargement at your

eyepiece. But this season the planet will

be easier to locate than usual; it’s just a

degree or so from Lambda (h) Aquarii,

magnitude 3.7.

+10°

+8°

+6°

Sept 1

Oct 1

Nov 1

Dec 1

Jan 1,

2018

Feb 1

Mar 1

+

i

k

1 h 50 m 1 h 40 m 1 h 30 m

Path of Uranus

PISCES

Star magnitudes

4 5 6 7 8 9

–6°

–8° Sept 1

Oct 1

Nov 1

Dec 1

Jan 1,

2018

83 Feb 1 h

23 h 10 m 23 h 00 m 22 h 50 m

Path of Neptune

AQUARIUS

Star magnitudes

4 5 6 7 8 9

+10 °

0°

–10°

α

α

ε δ

φ

γ

γ

η

η

η

ι

ι

κ

λ

λ

ν

ο

θ

θ

ω

ξ

ψ ψ 1

2

ζ

ζ

ζ

AQUARIUS

Path of

Uranus

Path of

Neptune

CETUS

PISCES

PEGASUS

2 h 00 m 1 h 30 m 1 h 00 m 0 h 30 m 0 h 00 m 23 h 30 m 23 h 00 m 22 h 30 m

Star magnitudes

34567